In previous album we saw the Uspenski chapel. Here we are walking
further along the trail in the woods.

Soon we glimpse the Kazan hermitage
ahead.

The hill on which it is situated is called the 'Holy Mountain'.
It's 34 meters, you know.

The hermitage was built in 1794. The
founder of the monastery lived here until the monastery itself was
built.

Science and technology stopped by here.
:)

The hermitage is obviously being
restored, though leisurely.

Behind us is a shelter with
miscellaneous building instruments, materials, and piles of wood.

Continuing along the trail into the
woods.

A rather important spot here: the chapel
on the Horse stone.

The island is named after this stone.

Prior to the end of the 14th century the stone served as the site of
pagan sacrifices. The Korels, who lived along the shore, annually
sacrificed a horse here. (The stone's outline reminds one of a horse's
head.)

At some point the founder of the monastery, Arsenii, did something to
the stone, like banishing the evil spirits, and the stone become good
and Orthodox. Then the chapel was built on top of it. The stone is 750
tones of granite. It is 9 by 6 by 5 (height) meters.

The first version of the chapel had a
large cross inside, which was popular because it "healed" toothaches.

The chapel you see now was built in 1815 and has, of course, been fixed
up over time.

We have now left the woods at the other
end of the island (quite a bit to the left of the pier). The beach here
is very different: all covered with medium and small stones.

A strong wind and white caps.

One more hermitage: the Konevsky (one and
a half kilometers to the right of the pier).

It was built by I. B.
Slupsky in 1874 at the spot where the first monastery was erected by the
founder in 1398.

This hermitage is in a very poor state; the restoration efforts have
yet to reach it.

Water pump by the water.

I wonder: does it pump from the lake or did they bore a well for it?

From the Konevsky hermitage a camera zoom
let's you see the cutter at the pier and the sandy beach.

Time to
return there.

A cross at the beach by the pier.
It looks new; has a lot of writing on it, but all in such a shortened
shorthand, that I can't make out why the cross is here. At the very
bottom of the cross there is a skull and bones.

By the way, on the
shorthand notation used on crosses, icons, and, in general, in books
published before Peter I. Those in the know correctly suggested that I
search for the word 'titl'. Leaving aside many rules and markings, I can
tell you that the 'titl' (a slanted line above letters and words) was
used if 1) the word had been shortened (a sequence of one or more
letters dropped), or if 2) numbers were written as letters (e.g. "A" for
"1").

In the case of the word 'god' (as well as 'angel', 'slave', 'sky' and
a few others) there was an additional meaning. A pagan god would be
always fully spelled out, i.e. without the 'titl'. While the 'true' god
would be shortened and written with a 'titl'. So as not to accidentally
mix them up in text. :)

Silhouettes

At this angle the cutter looks like a
real ice-breaker. :)

We have seen the main buildings on the
island.

In principal, there is a military base somewhere here. Possibly it is
at the north end of the island. Don't know; didn't see it.

I would like to bring to your attention an event we are planning with
friends at the end of the summer. It should be of interest to
programmers (including those who write for rare platforms), artists, and
musicians (who use computers). We eagerly await participants as well as
those wishing to help out in organizing this.